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May 30, 2017

Chris Chapman called the meeting to order at 1pm. Lane Sapp gave the invocation. Mark Steele served as Sergeant at Arms. There were two guests in attendance.

Chris recognized Memorial Day yesterday, and reminded the club of its true meaning. He announced the Family of Rotary game at BB&T Field on June 24th at 6pm.

The meeting speakers were Katherine Foster and Katie Pepper, presenting their classification talks.

Katherine Foster began with the reflection that writing one’s classification talk felt a little like writing your own obituary. She was born in Imperial Beach, California on a Naval Base where her father, Robert was a helicopter pilot. Her mother, Elaine, was a nurse. Katherine came to North Carolina at age 7 to be near her mother’s family after her parents divorced. Her grandfather, Louis McConnell, was the manager of Smith Reynolds Airport for many years. Katherine has fond memories of time spent at that airport when she was a child. She grew up in Pfafftown and attended St. Leo’s and Bishop McGuiness schools. Aspiring to be a librarian, she enrolled at UNC-G as a freshman. Her education was temporarily interrupted when her sister was in a serious car accident and suffered traumatic brain injury. Katherine left school to assist in her sister’s care. When she returned to UNC-G later to finish, she switched her major to English and pursued her interest in writing.

After graduation, she began working at the Winston-Salem Journal. As part of that job, she edited a pet magazine called PAWS, which led to a seat on the Board of the Humane Society. While serving on that Board, she discovered a passion for the non-profit world. Katherine went on to work at Second Harvest Food Bank, LISC Affordable Housing initiative, Aids Care Service, and as Executive Director of the New Winston Museum. She is currently the Director of Operations and Development at SECCA.

Katherine has a daughter who is a rising senior at RJ Reynolds High School. She enjoys listening to music and outdoor activities including camping and fishing.

Katie Pepper was born in Durham, but grew up in Winston-Salem. She attended Highland Presbyterian church. She has recently been researching her family genealogy and shared that her great, great grandfather was a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem.

Katie has two dogs, and enjoys traveling and gardening. In her professional life, she is the Marketing Director for Walter, Robbs, Callahan & Pierce Architects. She has been with the firm for nearly 15 years and has enjoyed the opportunity to become engaged in downtown Winston-Salem. Katie began her involvement with downtown when volunteering with the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership in marketing and events. She has also volunteered with the Downtown Arts District Association and the WSFC Community Appearance Commission. She served on the Design Steering Committee for the Creative Corridors Coalition. She has sat on the River Run Board and is currently serving on the Board of the Yadkin Riverkeeper and is Vice-Chairman of the New Winston Museum Board of Directors.

Katie graduated from Appalachian State University in 2002. She is often asked if she belongs to the same family as the Pepper Building? She has researched that question as she has pursued her genealogy work, and has found that there is in fact a family connection to the original owner of the Pepper Building.

Chris Chapman closed the meeting with a quote from a 1921 issue of The Rotarian : “There is nothing intangible about Rotary, it is reality itself. To give is to receive; to lose oneself is to find oneself; to be happy is to serve. These are old truths for the individual and the mass whether application be in the exchange of goods, toil, knowledge or love.”